Dragonkeeper by Carole Wilkinson

A young, unnamed slave works for a tyrannical man who purports to be a dragonkeeper. At the time of this story in ancient China the current emperor as no interest in dragons. Now there are only two left, and it is up to the young slave girl to keep them alive in their dungeon home. One morning she discovers one of the dragons has died. Now the adventures begin. 

The dragon named Danzi tells the girl her name is Ping. He explains they need to travel to the ocean, and she needs to carry his dragon stone and keep it safe at all times. Ping only has one friend in the whole world - a rat named Hua. Ping only agrees to go on this journey if Hua can come too. And what a journey it turns out to be. Ping has never been anywhere since she was taken as a slave. They walk through the most amazing countryside and encounter some kindness but also lots of danger because there is a dragon hunter who wants to capture and eventually kill Danzi and for reasons Ping cannot understand he and others also want the dragon stone.

The scene when Ping sees the ocean for the first time (only a few pages from the end of the book) reminded me of the words from the Margaret Mahy Picture book - The man whose Mother was a pirate:

He hadn’t dreamed of the BIGNESS of the sea. He hadn’t dreamed of the blueness of it. He hadn’t thought it would roll like kettledrums, and swish itself on to the beach. He opened his mouth and the drift and the dream of it, the weave and the wave of it, the fume and foam of it never left him again. At his feet the sea stroked the sand with soft little paws. Farther out, the great, graceful breakers moved like kings into court, trailing the peacock-patterned sea behind them.”

You could compare these lines with the wonder of Ping:

"Something on the horizon reflected sunlight like a band of silver. As they drew closer the band became wider. ... The hill gave way to flat land. The silver strip became wider and wider and turned blue as they got closer to it. It wasn't solid, its dimpled surface was dipping and rising. ... Where the blue met the earth there were tiny rolls of white. Ping realised what she was looking at was water. It stretched as far as she could see to the north, to the south and east until it merged with the sky. Its size terrified. her."

I recently talked about reading stamina and long form reading. Dragonkeeper is 343 pages of fairly small print so a reader aged 10+ will need stamina and perseverance but the rewards are great. Luckily things are fairly well resolved at the end of this book but IF you want to re-enter the world of Ping there are several more installments. I took quite a few days to read Dragonkeeper and now I need to consider if I want to see the movie - I think it might disappoint me because there is no way the sweeping story and epic nature of this book could be effectively distilled into a 98-minute movie surely? If you are looking for a class read aloud this could be a good book to consider - but do read it for yourself first - read alouds only work if the teacher loves the book first! Do not kill the book but the teachers notes I have linked to below are excellent and have ideas you could pick and choose from. I won my copy of Dragonkeeper as part of a promotion of the movie - I am glad I set aside the time to read this sweeping adventure story. 

There are more plot details in this review.

Carol Wilkinson waves her pencil like a magic wand and creates a fantasy world set in 141 B.C. China that’s as real as your morning cup of coffee.  ... Ping and Danzi need all the goodness they can muster, because their journey and their lives are challenged by drunks, robbers, corrupt politicians and wizards of the underworld. Ping’s believability grows on you because she, like the nine- to twelve-year-old readers for whom the book is written, has flaws, limitations and self-doubts. In fact, Wilkinson gives us a character with which readers of all ages can identify. Historical Novel Society

I put three covers at the top of this post but you can see even more on Carole Wilkinson's web page. 

My favourite parts of this book were when Danzi the dragon offered words of wisdom to Ping. I am so happy to see the author of the teacher's notes took the trouble to collect these:

The teachers notes say: Danzi is constantly making intriguing statements that Ping doesn’t quite understand, for example: 

• “All answers lie beyond the gate of experience,” 
• “Composure is the master of haste,”
• “The journey of a thousand li begins with a single step,” 
• “The way of Heaven is to diminish excess.” 
• “It is because of its emptiness that the cup is useful.” 
• “Recognising one’s limitations is knowledge,” 
• “Sharp weapons are not the tools of the sage,” 
• “The skillful traveller leaves no trace,”
• “The straight path must sometimes be crooked,” 
• “Sometimes advancing seems like going backwards,” 
• “Nothing under Heaven is softer than water,” “Yet it can overcome the hard and the strong.”
• “The sapling is small, but none can defeat it,” 
• “Net of Heaven is cast wide. Though its mesh is not fine, nothing slips through.”
• “He who tries to take carpenter’s place, always cuts his hands,” 
• “The path is easy if you avoid turning off it.” 

Blurb from the author webpage: Ancient China, Han Dynasty. A slave girl saves the life of an ageing dragon and escapes her brutal master. Pursued by a ruthless dragon hunter, the girl and the dragon make an epic journey across China carrying a mysterious stone that must be protected. This is the story of a young slave girl who believes she is not worthy of a name but finds within herself the strength and courage to make this perilous journey — and do what must be done.

Here are some additional teacher's notes.

Awards:

• Winner 2018 Silver Award (Children's Book), Illustrators Australia Awards
• Winner 2014 Graham Davey Citation, Young Australian Best Book Award (YABBA) 
• Winner 2013 Gold Award – Book Series, Illustrators Australia 
• Shortlisted 2006 COOL (Canberra’s Own Outstanding List) Award
• Winner 2006 Older Readers, Kids Own Australian Literary Awards (KOALA)
• Winner 2006 Kalbacher Klapperschlange Award (Germany)
• Special mention 2004 International Youth Library’s White Ravens List
• Shortlisted 2004 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
• Winner 2004 Best Children’s Book, Queensland Premier’s Literary Award
• Winner 2004 Book of the Year (Younger Readers), Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards
• Winner 2003 Best Young Adult Book, Aurealis Awards

Check out my two previous posts:

• Read the book then see the movie
• Dragonkeeper movie review

Flying Through Water by Mamle Wolo

We all grabbed bailing vessels. Thunder cracked, and lightning streaked across the sky like a celestial tree revealing its branches for a split second. I felt as though I were caught in a different dimension where death was as present as life, and everything was elemental and terrifying.

I thought about this world and the things we humans struggled for, and all the ways in which we imprisoned ourselves, and each other. It seemed to me that greed was just as much of a prison as poverty, only worse. Here I was alone on this island in the middle of nowhere, stripped of whatever meager possessions I had ever owned. And yet in nature’s heart I felt liberated and endowed with a splendor beyond anything humans could ever purchase. 

What greater wealth was there in this world than freedom?

This story is told in three parts. Sena describes his life in Ghana and his special relationship with is grandfather who tells him stories of his village life before the artificial creation of Volta Lake and the Akosombo Dam. Sena lives with his mother, sister and baby brother. They are very poor but he has been able to go to school. His education is not perfect and the teachers are often absent and they do beat the students but if he can sit the final exam there is the promise of further education and hopefully a better life for his family. But there is a young man who visits their village with promises to the young boys of work and money and perhaps even adventures. Sena is suspicious of this flashy man who they call 'Jack of Diamonds' and he has heard stories of boys sent to work with cattle - boys who are given little or no food and forced to work in dreadful conditions. Sena is determined not to follow this path but then his grandfather dies, his mother is gravely ill with malaria and his best friend declares he is heading away to work because he is sure the promises from 'Jack of Diamonds' are true. 

Sena loves his family and he really wants to help them so after his final exam he leaves a letter under his sister's pillow and he heads off - what he does not know is that this will be a journey into hell. So begins part two. Sena is taken to work as a slave for a cruel master catching fish and diving deep into treatrous waters to untangle the fishing nets. He is given virtually no food, he is beaten and the group of about ten boys are forbidden to talk to each other except about their tasks. Yes this is illegal human trafficking. Can Sena escape? Where will he go? What will happen if he is caught? He does befriend one of the boys and then that boy is killed - possibly murdered by their master - so now Sena must leave. He arrived at this place terrified of water and unable to swim. After several months of this cruel work he can now swim but he is still terrified of the dark water and the waves and he has not learned how to float. Part 3 is all about survival because he does find his way to a small deserted island with only monkeys for company but of course he must also find a way to get back to his family. He also carries huge guilt about the boys he left behind and he has made a new wonderful discovery of a special and rare underwater animal - the lake Manatee. The book ends with a sense of hope for the future for Sena himself but also for other trafficked boys and hopefully also for this very special wild creature who is also trapped in the waters of this lake.

Here are a few text quotes from this book:

Treatment by teachers: The humiliation hurt almost more than the lashes, but I hardened myself to it even though it upset me that the teachers beat us when they knew how hard our lives were. They knew we weren’t late out of laziness or what they called I-don’t-care-ism. But I got used to that too—the callousness of powerful people and the way they didn’t care what was fair.

Kekeli - a description: She had a round face, and when she smiled it was as if the distance between her lips and chin had been measured with a protractor and traced with a compass, their curves were so perfectly parallel. Her laughter was like that of a baby discovering funniness for the first time and too little to contain it. She could spark off the whole class.

Grandfather the storyteller: He said stories took us where our legs couldn’t go and showed us what our eyes couldn’t see, and that the best thing about books was that they were still there when storytellers were gone. I could see what he meant when I thought that one day, he wouldn’t be here to tell us stories anymore—a prospect I quickly banished. I loved his stories more than any I’d read in books.

Jack of Diamonds: Everyone was excited and following his every move, but something in me held back. I wondered if I was the only one to whom his mannerisms seemed somehow familiar, as if he’d studied them on someone else, like Shatta Wale or Burna Boy. Perhaps I was just being silly, but it made me uneasy that we couldn’t see his eyes, because he never took off his sunglasses. And it was amazing how he kept that black jacket on in this heat.

Publisher blurb: Sena treasures his life in rural Ghana-playing soccer, working the family farm, striving to do his best at school-but he is increasingly aware of his family's precarious security in the face of poverty. When an alluring gentleman comes to town to befriend local teenagers, offering promises of a better future, it only takes one more unsettling turn of events to send Sena into the clutches of human traffickers. Sena's ordeal, escape, and remarkable survival makes for a page-turning adventure of self-discovery and empowerment.

Searing and eye-opening, readers will devour Sena’s story in a day. School Library Journal

Wolo skillfully sheds light on the horrific practice of the trafficking of children, and the grim situations many are forced to live and work in—but she also tells a story of hope and perseverance. The vividly described settings include imagery that paints the scenes for readers as the story unfolds. A powerful look at human suffering and the will to survive. Kirkus Star review

Jack of Diamonds turns out to be a pied piper for a human trafficking network and thus, Sena finds that he has been sold into indentured labour to a fisherman who employs a motley crew of children, some as young as three, in a bid to compete with foreign trawlers working the Volta Lake. Cold and brutish, Sena’s master is a formidable antagonist, the like of which populates Dickensian novels, but the real villain here is the systemic poverty that has left intergenerational scars and threatens the possibility of a future for its under aged victims, who are malnourished, overworked, and constantly exposed to the risk of drowning. The Lagos Review

Fans of Hatchet and A Long Walk to Water will find Flying Through water an engrossing book. Sadly I have no idea how I discovered this book - I must have seen it recommended somewhere.

Listen to an audio sample here. This book only in hardcover so far is too expensive here in Australia (AUS$32.50) but I read a copy on a Kindle.

I recommend this moving and atmospheric story for readers aged 12+ especially those with an interest in social justice. Your senior students could also investigate the work of our Australian organisation that assists victims of modern slavery - The Freedom Hub.

I recently read this book which also explores the topic of human trafficking:

Stitched up

Stitched Up by Steve Cole

Hanh is sold by her parents to two strangers who offer her a good job as a shop assistant in distant Hanoi. She and other girls from her village are taken to the city but that's when all the promises are broken. They are locked inside a factory, fed only rice, they are only allowed to use the bathroom twice a day, and all of them are forced to work in very dangerous factory conditions manufacturing jeans for the fast fashion industry. Perfectly good denim is distressed by sandblasting. Fabrics are dropped into vats of dangerous chemicals. Machines are used to press creases into the legs of the pants. And embellishments are added by machine and by hand. The young overseer girl wields a stick and she beats any child who does not perform their tasks quickly. Quotas, money and greed drive this industry. Reading this book will most certainly make you reconsider that next purchase of fast fashion.

The story does have a resolution but clearly Hanh will be damaged for the rest of her life and her parents suffer from the most dreadful guilt. They never did receive the promised money. In this book you can read about modern slavery and organisations who are working to rescue children like Hanh and her friends. There is also an afterword about ways to avoid fast fashion. I had no idea 8,000 litres of water are used to make one pair of jeans 

This book is from the Barrington Stoke (Dyslexia friendly) book series. They produce books for all ages and this one is most certainly a Young Adult title for mature readers aged 12+.

You're going to read about the processes which go into the manufacture of garments such as the jeans. They're complex and require a great deal of skill. Hanh and the other girls get just two poor meals a day and are allowed only two toilet breaks. Violence is commonplace - and vicious. No account is taken of any illnesses or injuries: the girls are, after all, expendable. It's a dreadful situation but Steve Coles tells the story with sensitivity and compassion but still manages not to shy away from the brutal truth about why fast-fashion clothes are so cheap. BookBag

Children who are passionate about social justice are sure to devour this book. Scope for Imagination

In the context of a High School this book could be used in many different ways. If your school runs a social justice program this book explores modern slavery. This book is also about textile manufacturing and in particular 'trendy' jeans with distressed fabrics, rips and tears and embellishments and so it could be used in Design and Tech. If you have a group of students exploring the UN Rights of the child this book could be added to a wide reading list.

Here are all the titles in this series by Steve Cole:

I would pair Stitched up with these books:

Amal Unbound

Street Child by Berlie Doherty

When we meet Jim, he is living in extreme poverty with his mother who is clearly extremely unwell and his two sisters. Jim spends their last coins on a hot pie (with plenty of gravy). It really is the last coin and so it is not long until they find themselves evicted. Mrs. Jarvis takes the children to a house where she once worked. She is able to leave the two girls there but not Jim. They walk off into the night and then she collapses in the street. Jim lives in fear of the workhouse but that is exactly where he is taken now that his mother has died. 

Jim adapts to the brutal life in the workhouse, but he dreams of escape. One day the opportunity to do just this arises but Jim has no idea that he is about to lose his freedom again.

"Nick thrust a shovel at Jim. The basket hovered just above the hold and Nick eased it down and steadied it and started shoveling coal into it ... Jim stabbed at the coals with his shovel. He had to lift it nearly as high as himself before he could tip it into the basket, and the few coals he managed to lift slid off and bumped against him."

The hours of this are long and dangerous. Jim is hardly given any food and Nick controls Jim by using his ferocious dog. It feels as though Jim will never escape.

Street Child was first published in 1993. I have listed this book for senior primary ages 10+. It looks like a junior book with only 170 pages but the violence and cruelty inflicted on young Jim Jarvis are sure to upset very sensitive readers. There were times I had to stop and take a breath as I read the way Grimy Nick treated Jim.

On her web page Berlie Doherty has links to a wealth of materials associated with this book.

Bookseller blurb: When his mother dies, Jim Jarvis is left all alone in London. He is sent to the workhouse but quickly escapes, choosing a hard life on the streets of the city over the confines of the workhouse walls. Struggling to survive, Jim finally finds some friends… only to be snatched away and made to work for the remorselessly cruel Grimy Nick, constantly guarded by his vicious dog, Snipe. Will Jim ever manage to be free? (This is) the unforgettable tale of an orphan in Victorian London, based on the boy whose plight inspired Dr Barnardo to found his famous children’s homes.

I have shared four cover designs because I think this can be a good discussion starter with a class - talking about which cover the students like and why and aspects of cover design such as placement of the title, font, colour choices, and the way a cover might help you predict the plot of a story. 

Here is the Kirkus review. Book Bag review.

I do need to give a word of warning about Barnardos homes. Wikipedia says: "Barnardo's was also implicated in (the) inquiry for sending British children to Australia in the mid-20th century, where some were tortured, ... and enslaved. Barnardo's acknowledges its role in this "well intentioned" but "deeply misguided" policy supported by the government of the time."  I would not use Street Child as an impetus to research Dr Bernado and his charity, but you could use parts of this book to explore life in Victoria England and also with an older group as a way to talk about the United Nations Rights of the Child. As an adult reader if you are curious about Bernardos take a look at this article. 

Companion books:

The Fortune Maker

The Truth about Verity Sparks

A Very Unusual Pursuit

My Friend the Octopus

Other books by Berlie Doherty:

Carnegie Medal winner

Carnegie Medal winner

Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson

Reading this book had a huge impact on me - I read it some months ago but I just needed to wait to talk about it. I am now penning this post as I am about to travel to the IBBY Congress in Trieste and I have run out of time to do a detailed post so I will just use some review comments as a way to share this book. This is a book to linger over - take your time it has 398 pages - and it is a completely engrossing story. The discovery that this is all based on real events serves to make it even more powerful.

Freewater blurb: Under the cover of night, twelve-year-old Homer flees Southerland Plantation with his little sister Ada, unwillingly leaving their beloved mother behind. Much as he adores her and fears for her life, Homer knows there’s no turning back, not with the overseer on their trail. Through tangled vines, secret doorways, and over a sky bridge, the two find a secret community called Freewater, deep in the swamp. In this society created by formerly enslaved people and some freeborn children, Homer finds new friends, almost forgetting where he came from. But when he learns of a threat that could destroy Freewater, he crafts a plan to find his mother and help his new home. Deeply inspiring and loosely based on the history of maroon communities in the South, this is a striking tale of survival, adventure, friendship, and courage. 

Use this review comment to read more plot details:

The page-turning action will engage readers as the story reaches a satisfying conclusion. Kirkus Star

Wikipedia entry

Here is a School Library Journal interview with Amina Luqman-Dawson.

Awards:

• John Newbery Medal Winner!
• Coretta Scott King Award Winner!
• New York Times Bestseller List!
• Indie Bestseller List!

Companion books:

Crossing Ebenezer Creek (YA title)

Chains

Winter of the White Bear by Martin Chatterton

 

The cover of this book belies the very deep issues that are explored in this text. Themes of murder, power, slavery, forced labour, attempted suicide and justice. The power differential is evident right from the front cover where we see a tiny brown bear overshadowed by an enormous angry-faced white bear. This is not a book for a young child - this is a picture book for older readers aged 13+.

Little Bear has a happy life with his father in the forest which is filled with bright colours. The opening double page spread is almost a visual shock after seeing the snow filled cover and ice shards on the end papers. Little bear loves to catch fish with her father and her delight is echoed in the way the fish glitter like falling stars. Following a horrific battle between the father bear and the White Bear, Little Bear is taken captive and forced to undertake the long journey to the polar lands. Once there, she is ordered to dive into the frozen waters to catch fish for the tyrannical White Bear. Finally Little Bear cannot take this suffering and so she dives deep into the ocean hoping to end her life. She is saved by a vision of her loved father telling her to stay strong and find a way to leave. Little Bear swims back to the surface and sets out to trick her captor. Each day she places tempting fish closer and closer to the edge of the ice. Finally, the White Bear steps onto an ice floe and he plumets to the ocean floor. Little Bear is now free to find her way home.

This story is presented as a fable, and it is designed to draw attention to the injustices of slavery not just from the past but also the reality and Injustices of modern slavery. This is a passion topic of the author and formed the basis of his PhD study. Here is a video trailer for Winter of the White Bear. 

The illustrations depict vast, lonely landscapes. Layers of blue are used to show the depth and freezing temperatures of the polar waters. The danger is amplified by the silhouettes of fierce sea creatures following Little Bear as she tries to catch fish for the insatiable appetite of the white bear. When discussing this book with students notice Little Bear is a girl and she is brown and the bear with power is white. These would be deliberate character choices. A sentence from the opening of the story is repeated at the end giving the story a satisfying conclusion.

"The fish glittered under the water. Little Bear lifted it from the river in a shower of stars."

"The fish glittered under the water. Little Bear watched it swim pas, trailing stars."

Looking closely at the illustrations you could talk about the use of red to emphasize the anger of the tyrannical bear. On the half title page, the bear is walking to the left - this shows, in my view, that he will be able to walk away from the slavery and find his way back home. The final scene we see Little Bear is nearly home, the view looks like a welcoming carpet of colour. And if you look closely dad is welcoming Little Bear back home.

Awards (read the judging comments here)

• 2021 shortlisted for the Patricia Wrightson Prize in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
• 2020 shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards

Read about the Kickstarter project that was used to fund the publication of this book. And more about ending modern slavery through the organisation The Freedom Hub.  Sophie Masson interviewed Martin Chatterton about his book in 2019. 

Martin Chatterton in his notes at the back of the book says:

"Winter of the White Bear is a story about a small captive who, like so many captives, fights back against a stronger and meaner captor. It is also a lesson about the big picture of slavery; no good comes of cruelty and suppression, and there is a way to end it. ... My hope is that this book, in one way or another, helps someone else find their way home."

This blog post contains part of the text I submitted to The National Centre for Australian Children's Literature for use in the Picture Books for Older Readers database. 

Loteria by Karla Arenas Valenti illustrated by Dana Sanmar

"The issue of free will was one the two friends often debated. At the heart of the debate was the question of choice: whether a person's destiny was determined by past events or if people had the ability to shape their own future. Life believed that people created their own destiny. ... 

Catrina (Lady Death), on the other hand, argued that choice was an illusion."

Long ago I read the Greek myth based on the three women, the fates, who cut the strings of life. The Moirai, or Fates as they are known in English, wove the threads of fate on a great loom. Clotho, “The Spinner,” spun the thread of life from her distaff onto her spindle. At the moment of birth, she created the thread of a person’s lifetime. Lachesis, “The Drawer of Lots,” measured each thread. Finally Atropos, “The Unturning,” cut each thread at the appointed length, setting the person’s death. I don't know why but the image of this has lingered with me for over 40 years. 

In this book there are two players - Life and Lady Death. Once each year they play a game, in this instance to set the fate of a young girl named Clara. 

"La Loteria was a simple game of chance. The first to get four cards in a straight line - horizontal, vertical or diagonal - would win. A win by Catrina (Lady Death) would deliver Clara into her hand. A win by Life would spare the child, granting Clara a long life. ... The players had three days to complete the game and deliver their prize, after which they would part ways for another year, meeting only to play another round. "

Each player has set before them a placard with a different image printed one each of the sixteen squares. (Here are some you could print for a class) Beside this the players have a set of fifty-three cards (here are a set to use with the game) each with a different image and the players also have a handful of frijoles - small beans as black as night. Lady Death and Life take turns to flip the cards and find matching images on their own placards - a bit like bingo (but this game might not have a happy outcome). 

The cards contain sayings that need to be interpreted such as EL QUE A BUEN ARBOL SE ARRIMA BUENA SOMBRA LE COBIJA - He who approaches a good tree is blanketed by good shade. Lady Death places a bean on the image of a tree on her tabla. 

Catrina and Life begin their game. A scorpion hides in Clara's sketchbook emerging as she shares her dragon drawing at a family picnic; nearby a young boy is trying out his new bow and arrow; Estaban's mother, a healer, rushes home for some herbs to help with the scorpion sting; at that moment the boy unleashes his arrow. These are the awful events that create enormous grief. Estaban has already lost his father and now his mother. When a stranger arrives, rather like the Pied Piper, Estaban believes he will be taken to see his mother. He can hear her singing. He follows the man in the red coat into another world.

Clara has promised to keep her young cousin Estaban safe and so she follows them into this dangerous and unpredictable place. Clearly the man has evil intentions but why does he want this young boy? As you might suspect this is all about power but you might be surprised to learn it is also about the elixir of youth. Yes, this sounds complex and it is, but it is also utterly riveting. 

One thing Clara has to do to survive and to find her cousin, is work out the bargaining system. At one point she meets a fawn hiding from some hunters. He will tell her how to climb through some impenetrable vines in exchange for colour - the colour of her hair! Pages 140-143 in my paperback copy could be a fabulous section to read aloud as a book talk to a group of students. 

The descriptions in this book are fabulous - they would be wonderful to use with a writing group:

"He looked quite dapper in his black suit and matching vest, with a crisp white shirt and the tiniest hint of red peeking out of his jacket pocket: a crimson handkerchief, monogrammed."

"Two fig trees heavy with fruit flanked the entrance to the path. Ceramic pots of various shapes and sizes lined the way. Some held tall and spiky cacti, while others boasted flowering plants with buds of yellow and orange; a pair of succulents grew in a rooster shaped pot."

"As she spoke, she plucked a petal off her crown and released it into the air. The petal folded into a rose-scented butterfly."

"The baby deer has left its hiding place and now stood behind her. It was completely white, a bright beacon against the greens and reds and yellow surrounding them. Its large black eyes gazed at her openly."

"A waterfall roared down the side of the cliff into a pool of clear water that branched off into dozens of canals. The canals snaked along the jungle floor toward fountains carved in the shape of mermaids or fish or outstretched hands with fingers reaching upward."

This book is filled with Spanish food and words but you will have no problem working things out. There is no glossary but this book does have a useful set of notes at the back. I did look up one important word: El diablo - the devil (the man in the red coat).

Loteria is a totally engrossing story. I know the bravery of Clara and the horrible scene where we discover why the boy king has taken these children will linger with me for years to come. This is another one of those books where I marvel at the imagination of the author.

You can read the first nine chapters here. The publisher - Random House Kids suggests ages 8-12 for this book but I would say it is for 11+. I have labelled it as Young Adult because a loved character does die very early in the story and the fate of Clara and her young cousin Esteban is a very complex one - not something a young reader would understand. Also, this book is written using a sophisticated vocabulary, and it is, as I said, filled with Spanish expressions and food. The scene with the enormous spiders when Clara is tossed into the underground prison are truly frightening. (Chapter 28).

Publisher blurb: In the hottest hour of the hottest day of the year, a fateful wind blows into Oaxaca City. It whistles down cobbled streets and rustles the jacaranda trees before slipping into the window of an eleven-year-old girl named Clara. Unbeknownst to her, Clara has been marked for la Lotería. Life and Death deal the Lotería cards but once a year, and the stakes could not be higher. Every card reveals a new twist in Clara’s fate—a scorpion, an arrow, a blood-red rose. If Life wins, Clara will live to a ripe old age. If Death prevails, she’ll flicker out like a candle.  But Clara knows none of this. All she knows is that her young cousin Esteban has vanished, and she’ll do whatever it takes to save him, traveling to the mythical Kingdom of Las Pozas, where every action has a price, and every choice has consequences. And though it seems her fate is sealed, Clara just might have what it takes to shatter the game and choose a new path.

Read some review comments on Karla Arenas Valenti's web page. Here's the Horn Book review. And here is a radio interview with the author. Here is a set of excellent discussion questions. See the cover being made here. And here is an interview with Betsy Bird - she loved this book too. And finally here is another interview from the blog - From the Mixed-up files. 

The Map of Leaves by Yarrow Townsend

"Wherever there is sickness, there is rumour ... but I am here to tell you the scientific truth of the matter. This sickness is not brought about by witchcraft or sin. No. This sickness has come from a place of disease and pestilence. It has come from the wild. ... We must be rid of it. ... The plants, the weeds, the swamp, the forest, the wild gardens. Disease lurks among the plants and the wild things, breeding mosquitoes and poisons."

Orla lives alone outside the village of Thorn Creek. Orla feels like an outsider because her healer mother is now dead and the people of the village seem to treat her with hostility and suspicion. Orla does have one friend - her horse called Captain and she also has the constant company of the plants, flowers and herbs in her garden. Orla can hear the plants talking and they often give her wise advice.

Life is not perfect, it is hard, but as the story opens it is clear things are about to become much worse perhaps even life threatening. Orla notices black marks are appearing on the leaves of her plants. Then a young boy from the village asks Orla for help. Idris's brother Castor is desperately ill. When Orla lifts his sleeve she sees the same purple marks that appeared on her mothers arms. Orla was unable to save her precious Ma. She is sure she cannot help Castor. 

Thorn Creek is governed over by a wealthy ink-manufacturing family, whose head is Inishowen Atlas, Warden and resident of Hind House. He is often absent but on this dreadful day he arrives on his horse and declares a sickness is coming. With the voice of authority he tells the village that their plants are to blame. He orders everyone to destroy every plant in the village. Orla knows the plants are not the source of the sickness and she also knows the people will starve because there will be nothing left to eat.

Ma has left Orla her book of remedies. At the front of the book there is a very detailed map and on the map there is a tiny circle around a distant place called Fleetwater. Beside the circle in very faint writing Ma had written the word 'here'. Orla decides to stow away on a Hauler boat but she has no idea Idris and Ariana, the niece of the tyrant Atlas, are going to join her. Nor does she have any idea about the horrible scene that awaits her when she finally, after an utterly terrifying journey, reaches the place on her mother's map.

Each chapter in this book is prefaced with a herb, its scientific name and uses. I really enjoyed reading these. Some will be familiar while have such interesting names: Lady's Mantle (a sprig under the pillow aids sleep); Devil's Rope (very dangerous, fatal if it enters your blood); Viper's Bugloss (an infusion of the seeds can drive away melancholy).

I loved the world of this book, the strength of each character, the wisdom and warnings of the plants, the personal growth of Orla, and the powerful atmosphere created by debut author Yarrow Townsend. One other delightful discovery (it's a minor point but so heartwarming) comes from a discovery about character of Idris. He is very skilled with needle and thread. When Orla's sleeve is torn he says:

"Let me fix the tear in your coat sleeve while you and Ariana paddle ... it's annoying me like nobody's business'. He held out his hand and motioned for Orla to pass him the coat. ... 'Fine,' she said ... but mind you do it properly."

Here is a wonderful description of Orla:

"Twelve-year-old Orla had dark-brown hair, bramble scratched hands, and a determined frown. She wore a pair of boy's breeches that she never changed, an oilskin coat that smelled of beeswax, and a pair of thick leather boots."

Yarrow Townsend build a chilling, atmospheric world, highlighting the damage those with wealth and power cause in their search for more wealth and power. Miss Clevelands Reading

The Map of Leaves is exquisitely written and brilliantly original. The descriptions of the natural world and rich and immersive, and the book is underpinned by a real reverence for nature. Get Kids into Books

I have been in a slight reading slump lately. I am ploughing through a long fantasy book and I only seem able to read 3 or 4 pages at a time. With nearly 400 pages I seem to be taking way too long to finish the book. So last night I picked up a different book - this one. I read The Map of Leaves in one sitting. YES this book is fabulous. I found it at the Westmead Children's Hospital Book Bunker where I work as a volunteer. The Map of Leaves was published by Chicken House in 2022. I flew through all 300+ pages.  I do hope you can find this book - and that I have convinced you to read it!  Take a look at this review which has lots of text quotes. You can read sample pages from this book here. 

I read a review that suggested this book as a companion read. I have added this title to my enormous "to read" list:

Running out of Night by Sharon Lovejoy

 

Lush, detailed, total-immersion storytelling. Kirkus

Publisher blurb: Every day is a misery for a nameless, motherless Southern girl who is treated cruelly by her pa and brothers. Her life changes forever when a runaway slave named Zenobia turns to her for help and shelter. Longing for her own freedom, the girl decides to run away, and she and Zenobia set off on a harrowing journey. Along the way, Zenobia names the girl Lark, after the bird, for her ability to mimic its song.  Running by night, hiding by day, the girls are pursued by Lark’s pa and brothers and by ruthless slave catchers. Brightwell, another runaway slave, joins them, and the three follow secret signs to a stop on the Underground Railroad. When the hideout is raided and Zenobia and Brightwell are captured, Lark sets out alone to rescue her friends.

Cliffhanger endings for nearly every chapter prove that adventure tropes can work just as well in historical fiction to keep the pages turning, and a happy but bittersweet conclusion ensures that both girls finally find safety. Bulletin of the Centre for Children's Books

I read this book as an ebook. It was first published in 2014 and here in Australia the paperback is nearly $25 which seems terrible to me considering this is a book with just 300 pages. I much prefer print books but the advantage of an ebook is I can highlight pieces of text to quote here which will give you a flavour of this powerful writing:

"I don't have no name. My mama died just when I were borned and nobody bothered to give me one, ceptin Grandpa, who always called me Sweet Girl when we were alone."

"I squared my chin and bit down on my tongue to keep it from waggin me into trouble again."

"I learnt a long time ago that turnin into a shadow, disappearin into whatever was round me were sometimes the only way to stay alive."

"I belonged to him, like his hunting dogs and his guns. He wouldn't never give up looking for me around here."

"Grandpa always told me that bad beginnings are a sign of a good endin. I hoped I didn't have to wait too long for a the good to come."

"And why did I have to take a beatin for someone I didn't even know, or care about? Someone who probably wouldn't give me a butter bean if I were the hungry one. Why should I risk my own hide for her?"

"Not bad enough that I'm a mite smaller than most girls, and that my ugly red hair stands out like broom corn, but now look what I were stuck with - a tall, raggedy runaway slave girl who dragged trouble behind her like a tail. We'd stick out worse n'chickens in Sunday dresses."

"What were that bird you were singin to?' 'That were a lark,' I answered. 'I be thinking on that and now I namin you Lark, ... that a name you can keep. You (are) Lark."

"I looked down. Me and Zenobia set next to each other, our arms wrapped around out legs. Her arms was the colour of dark clover honey, mine pale, white, and freckled like a wood thrush's chest. I had forgot that we was different colours."

There are some rich words in this book and I enjoyed the authentic Southern voice. I learnt these new words: scuppernong (grape); crawdad (crayfish); fetters (metal ankle chains); pinders (peanuts); buckeye (a seed); and milk name (first name given to a baby).

Here in Australia we have a weekly newspaper column penned by the radio journalist and presenter Richard Glover.  I love these quotes from his recent writings:

Saturday 24th July, 2021 "Books are best read in one or two sittings. In the before times, I could take a couple of weeks to read a book ... The plot would lose it momentum. ... A good author deserves a few hours of continuous reading."

I'm glad I read Running out of Night over two or three long and very absorbing sessions. 

Saturday 30th April, 2021 "Every book is a meeting of minds. ... Reading is an intense experience. ... The reader, after all, is the one who brings the text to life. A text without a reader, is a score without a piano. And then there’s the variation in pianos – some are out of tune, unable to even attempt the high notes; others have the ability to bring the score to tuneful life. ... Certainly, reading is not a passive activity. If the book is good, it should be transformative, leaving you slightly altered. Maybe even improved." SMH

I would add to this some wisdom (not as well expressed) about the way, as a reader, you put yourself into the hands of an author - trusting they will keep you (and their characters who may now be your friends) safe. I felt this way right through Running out of Night. So many utterly dreadful, violent, frightening, and truly terrible things happen to Lark and her new friends but I just kept hold of Sharon Lovejoy's hand, confident in the knowledge she would keep me, and those precious children, safe. 

In the author notes I discovered Sharon Lovejoy once owned a herb shop. In this book Lark uses herbs with great care and wisdom. Sharon has added her own passion to the story in a beautiful way. I recommend Running out of Night for mature readers aged 11+. 

This book reminded me of these:

Stella by Starlight

Crossing Ebenezer Creek

Chains

I am now also keen to read Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. Reviews also mention Trouble don't last by Shelley Pearsall and Stealing Freedom by Elisa Carbone. 

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan

Koly is thirteen. Koly lives in India. Her family are very poor and it is difficult to feed everyone. Even though she is only thirteen her mother (Maa) and her father (Baap) decide it's time for her to be married. They find a boy aged sixteen who will marry her but his family are demanding a large dowry. The family sell all their precious things.  Koly is taken to a village far from her home and on the wedding day she briefly meets her new husband. 

The marriage is a deception. Hari is desperately ill. His parents, who Koly calls sass (mother in-law) and sassur (father in-law) have set up the marriage so they can obtain money from the dowry. They plan to use to take Hari the sacred Ganges River. They hope bathing in the river will heal their son.

Hari has tuberculosis. He does not recover and now Koly is a widow which in India means she has no status and no chance of another marriage. She becomes a slave in the household of her inlaws. Hari's sister Chandra is soon married and moves away. Mr Mehtas dies and so now Koly must endure unkindness and even cruelty that is dished out each day by Sass. After two years of this dreadful existence Mrs Mehtas announces they are moving to Delhi. On the way the train stops in Vrindavan - the city of widows. Koly is betrayed, Sass abandons her. Now she must survive with no money, no friends, and no where to go. Luckily Koly is a resourceful girl and she has skills. She can read and she is very skilled at embroidery. It is these things along with the kindness of strangers and meeting one very special friend that mean this book does contain that all important happy ending.

Homeless Bird is a rich exploration of a different culture. There is an extensive glossary in the back of the book but Gloria Whelan weaves Hindi words so skilfully into the story that I had no need to refer to this. Here are some quotes to give you a flavour of this writing:

"Maa got me up so early ... We went to the courtyard well and drew water to wash my hair. Maa oiled and braided it. She dusted my face with golden turmeric powder, and with a paste of sandalwood and vermilion painted the red tikka mark on my forehead. My eyes were outlined with kohl. My lips and cheeks were rouged. The kautuka, a yellow woolen bridal thread, was fastened around my wrist."

"Even with my bedroll to soften the stone of the doorway, I could not sleep."

"I tried everywhere to find work, but for every job there were a hundred seekers. For a week the doorstep was my home."

"Along the borders of the rich lady's sari were embroidered flurries of blossoms in pale yellows and pinks twined with green leaves. I could not take my eyes from the clever work."

"As I thought of the river, I remembered the heron. I began to stitch its long neck and its head with its sharp beak. I stitched the long danging legs and the great wings. I forgot where I was. ... 'This is what I want (said Mr Das); it is your heron. It has flown right out of your head, and more important, out of your heart."

Homeless bird was published in 2000 but I am happy to report it is still in print. I was lucky to find a sale copy in a local bookshop. Gloria Whelan and I almost share a birthday and she is the author of a very impressive body of work.

I would pair Homeless Bird with Amal Unbound.

I thought I knew the name Gloria Whelan. I now discover she is the author of two (very old) titles from the Stepping Stones series published by Random House. Next Spring an Oriole and Shadow of the Wolf. I read both of these junior novels many years ago.

Across the risen sea by Bren MacDibble

Bren MacDibble takes us once again into the dystopian world of the future. This time the land is covered in water and small groups of people cling to life on tiny islands. Each island has it's own laws and rituals but there is room for some sharing between the communities and debris washed up from all the destroyed cities is now scavenged and adapted for use as shelters. Life feels difficult at times but the people have manged to make comfortable dwellings and they have access to plenty of fish. There is danger though - violent unpredictable storms, dangerous crocodiles, sickness and perhaps the threat of invasion or war.

As this story opens some strangers arrive at Cottage Hill - three tall people who speak a strange language. They are wearing shiny headbands and their boat has a sun image on the prow. It is clear they are powerful, wealthy and have come from a distant place known as Valley of the Sun. The three people, two sisters and a brother, climb the hill above the little island settlement and begin to cut down trees. Over the coming days they erect a tall pole and place two circles of logs around it. They hoist a metal box onto the top of the middle pole and attach wires which stretch down to the ground where they are buried under the inner circle of logs. After their task is completed the three strangers sail away. They refuse to answer any questions.

Old Marta, the leader of their island, knows all of this has something to do with 'teknology' but exactly why this strange contraption has been placed on their island is a mystery.  Neoma and her friend Jag are told to go and sketch the box so Marta can take a drawing to show the inhabitants of other near-by islands in the hope they may know what all this means. Neoma is a curious and fearless girl. She digs into the dirt below the box, even though they have been told by the strangers not to touch any part of this installation. She receives a powerful electric shock and has to run quickly into the sea to put out the flames burning her skin and hair.

Jag and Neoma have managed to complete a drawing of the tower and box so Marta takes Neoma to visit the nearby islands. There is something odd about the island of Jacob's Reach. It is clear their leaders are not telling the truth and there must be some reason why there are no children around.

I think my favourite scene comes next when Neoma, her Ma and Jag head off to Silver Water in their makeshift catamaran Licorice Stix. Silver Water is a high rise building which is now flooded. The kids climb up the stairs until they reach a former restaurant - well Neoma doesn't know it is a restaurant because she has never seen a place like this. No one has found this so it has not been looted and the kitchen is filled with food. It has been eleven years since the flood but the canned food is still okay so Neoma fills her sack. She and Jag then have to rush away because a very dangerous storm is approaching. I held my breath as Neoma's is forced to leap into the sea after tossing her salvage over the balcony rails.

On their way back, as the wild weather and water rages around them, they see a boat. It is the one that visited their island earlier - the one with the strangers from Valley of the Sun. The two women are in the boat. One is dead and one is badly hurt. What has happened? Are Neoma and her community now in danger? The people from Valley of the Sun will be back and they will want answers but no one has anticipated they will also want a payment and this payment comes in the form of a person. Jag is captured and taken prisoner and Neoma thinks this is all her fault and so it is up to her to rescue her friend and hopefully solve all the mysteries - the dead woman, the island of secrets, and most importantly to discover the purpose of device beaming a red light from the top of their island.

Bren MacDibble is a master storyteller. She gives her reader fragments of information that signpost past events and give a sense of place and of climate change:

"Marta was a young woman in the before-times. Before the risen sea drove everyone to the hills. ... She says when she was older she visited the great walled city of Sydney after most of it moved to New Armidale. She remembers when clouds were just white, she says the green is bacteria and it's the way the earth tries to make things right and clean ... "

"The surf coast was where the rich people lived, pretending it was safe from the flooding that was washing out the poorer coastal towns and making salty swamps of farmland. But Cyclone Summer sent six cyclones nose to tail and destroyed it. Survivors moved inland to a mountain range same as the poor people. But the sea rose so quick they din't get to take everything they owned."

My advance reader copy (thanks to Beachside Bookshop) of Across the risen sea has 270 pages but so much is contained within this thrilling story. I would summarise the plot into three 'acts'.

ACT 1. Installation of the 'teknology' on the island and the subsequent mystery of Jacob's Reach which is somehow linked to the death of the woman from Valley of the Sun. Jag is kidnapped.
ACT 2. The rescue of Jag which involves a dangerous pirate woman, a visit to the famed Valley of the Sun (this place is utterly amazing) and the making of a new friend.
ACT 3. The full truth is revealed.

I am going to make a prediction that Across the risen sea will be short listed by the CBCA for their 2021 awards. AND even though it is only June (this book is due for publication in August) I am going to predict Across the risen sea will be among the winners next year.  YES it is that good! This is a thrilling story, a mystery, a story of heroism, pirates, survival and so much more. I read it all in nearly one sitting and I was on the edge of my seat through the whole amazing 'voyage'.

In her letter to the reader Bren MacDibble says:

"I've let adventure lead me on a wild ride with this one. There's sinkholes, crocodiles, sharks, pirates, floating cities, and floating farms. I hope you and those you share books with will also enjoy the ride."

If you haven't discovered the powerful story telling of Bren MacDibble I suggest you RUSH out now and grab her earlier books:

How to Bee

The Dog Runner